Understanding Hearing Aid Battery Life

Everyone that has a hearing aid knows how frustrating it can be when you are out and about, having some fun engaging in your favourite activities and then out of nowhere your hearing aid runs out of battery! Of course, more people will generally carry a spare set of batteries with them just for this occasion but we just wanted to point out some of the do’s & don’t’s regarding your hearing aid batteries.

Hopefully, by the end of this, you will have picked up some pointers on how to extend the life of your batteries so you will never be caught out again. For those of you who new to hearing aids, this is a great opportunity to get started in the right way.

In general, a hearing aid battery can last anywhere between 3-21 days. This is all dependant on the size and style of the battery. The most common type of battery used today is the ‘Zinc-air button disposable battery’.

Due to the fact, the batteries are air-activated they will always come with a factory sealed stickers which allow the batteries to remain inactive for around 2 years. Once this seal is removed it takes approximately 2 minutes for the battery to be fully charged.

Battery Size – As the physical size of the battery decreases the amount of space available for all the ‘ingredients’ needed to power the battery also decreases. Therefore sometimes smaller batteries may have a shorter lifespan.

Temperature – In the cold weather as the temperature is reduced, your hearing aid battery voltage will be lowered, this, in turn, can reduce the battery life.

Humidity – Your batteries can dry out or take on too much moisture depending on the humidity level, unfortunately, both these outcomes reduce your batteries life.

Altitude – Increased altitude results in less oxygen in the air, this creates lower voltage and a reduced battery life.

Noise – When the surrounding noise levels are too high then you will need to turn up the volume of your hearing aid, this will then reduce the life of your batteries.

The degree of hearing loss – When you have a severe hearing loss you may need to increase the volume of your hearing aid, this will again reduce the battery life.

Instrumental differences – In some hearing aids, you can now get Bluetooth/wireless streaming etc in a hearing aid. Using these can seriously reduce the battery life of your hearing air.

Some key points to help prolong the life of your hearing aid

Make sure you only remove the tab once you are ready to use the battery as once removed the battery will be constantly on (after the initial charging of 2 mins)

Store unopened batteries in a cupboard at room temperature.

Never keep your spare batteries loose in a pocket or purse as your spare change or metal objects could affect the batteries.

Keep track of your battery usage to determine the average time that your battery should last.

Ensure you turn off your hearing aid when it is not in use. Also, make sure you leave the battery compartment door is open overnight. This will help keep the batteries from wasting any power and will also allow any moisture to evaporate overnight.

If you follow these tips on what to do and what you should be trying to avoid you will get the most from your hearing aids & batteries. Let us know if you got some valuable insight from this post on our Twitter or Facebook!